The Home of Exciting Poker Hands

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• Best of The Bluffs
• WSOP Highlights
• Best of Phil Hellmuth
• Remembering Stu Ungar
• Best of Mike Matusow
• High Stakes Poker Highlights

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• More Detailed Statistics
• Real Time Mucked Cards in Overlay

Pocket Pair Strategy:

Pocket Pairs: Pairs are always good hole cards, but you should play them wisely. Everyone loves to see a pair in the hole. One of the most anticipated pocket pairs are the pocket Aces which tend to cause amateurs to bet the whole farm thinking they cannot loose. If you do not comprehend anything else in this guide, comprehend this...pocket Aces are not ALWAYS a winner. Yes, they are indeed the best starting hand you can theoretically be dealt, but I have seen way too many players lose all of their chips with the "all-in" pocket Aces.

Having said that, let's start with the idea of "slow playing" your pocket Aces. There are a few things that you should consider before doing so. If you choose to slow play the Aces you should be at a table that has players who are unlikely to call a pre-flop raise from an early position, very loose players, or one or more players who are frequently stealing the blinds. Keep in mind that slow playing with any hand should not become a dominating strategy but rather a technique used sparingly. Now suppose that you come out strong with your betting and you get multiple callers or even a raise. If it comes to the turn or river card and you do not improve your hand you should typically lay down. More often than not, you will lose a substantial amount of chips - especially if there is a possible straight or flush hand showing on the board. Remember, it is better to save your stack and live to play another hand than to foolishly take chances.

Other pocket pairs such as the Deuce/Deuce is not as strong as many would think at ANY point during the game. I would recommend never holding this small pair (unless you are a blind and can check through to the next card). All it takes is someone holding a single Three card and then seeing another Three show up on the flop or turn to win the hand. In general, the Five to Nine pair are usually not good pocket pairs to bet on - but can be a good hand to see the flop on if the betting is not beyond your comfort level or if you are a blind and have the option to check. If you don't hit at least three of a kind on the flop, it is best not to hold these low pairs unless you can continue to check the hand. The best advice I can give for playing pocket pairs on the Internet is to watch which pairs have recently won, and which ones have recently lost. Keep a mental record of the wins verses losses. I say this for the simple fact that if King/King in the hole has won three times during the tournament, odds become favorable that they will not win the fourth time BEFORE at least one bad beat. This one observation alone can save you a lot of money - especially in large multiplayer tournaments. Many online casinos state that they use random number generators when dealing or determining cards (I'm not saying they don't) but after countless hours of real game time, one will begin to wonder just how random anything can be.

ALWAYS, ALWAYS be aware that when any pair is showing on the board, a full house is possible. A full house Threes full of Twos will beat Ace/Ace or trip Aces every time. Whenever you see someone betting hard on board pairs, you should at the very least be holding an Ace or King with the pair, and it is recommended not to play against a high wager unless you already have trips with the possibility of hitting the full boat yourself.

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www.PokerSecretsSchool.com - FREE "Winning Online Texas Holdem Poker" e-book!

Online Tells:

Obviously there are not as many tells when playing on the internet as there are when playing in person. You cannot see the other player in order to read his/her expressions and emotions. But believe it or not, there are times when you can pick up on the playing habits of another player online. For instance: Players that frequently push the check/fold button before their turn. This is very common among NOVICE or uneducated players. This is an easy tell, they have no hand worth playing and only hope to see free cards - or fold if a raise is made.

A GOOD player will take some time off of the clock even when they have nothing. This keeps the other players guessing at all times. Sometimes it will even frustrate an experienced or frequent player causing them to make a hasty decision. If you see someone checking quickly hand after hand, play them aggressively, unless of course you know the player and they are using this as a method to fool their opponents.

Some veteran players will try to use the clock as a "timing" tool to their advantage. For example, a player may take the full time out before they make their decision to check/fold/raise. If they use a large amount of time to simply check, odds are they have nothing. Slightly raise the stakes to keep them in check. If they come back with a large raise or an all-in raise, watch out! Unless you know this player very well it is wise to be cautious and back down. Regardless of the outcome use it to your advantage by taking mental note of the player's style and use this knowledge for the next showdown. A novice player will consistently play their hand the same way every time.

I'll give you a good example. I once knew a player that went all-in every time he would stay in a hand. It didn?t matter if it was on the flop, the turn, or the river, if he bet, it would be all-in. Believe it or not, he won a lot of tournaments, until I (and eventually a few others) caught up to him by carefully observing his playing style. He would only play Ace/King, Ace/Ace, or any suited cards. Once this tell was out, it was easy to know when to stay in a pot or when to fold. My point is this: If you will carefully watch a player and take note of what cards they hold when they win AND loose, you can get a good feel of how they play and thus recognize their tells.

Brough to you by,
www.PokerSecretsSchool.com - FREE "Winning Online Texas Holdem Poker" e-book!

Starting Hand Stratagy:

A good starting hand is the first and foremost key to winning at online Texas Holdem poker, period.

The majority of the online poker community tends to overlook this crucial element essential for winning consistently. Sure, anyone will get lucky every now and then with a 7-2 off suit, but to win consistently you must condition yourself to play only hole cards with the best possible winning percentages.

So what is a good starting hand? Ace/Ace - Ace/King Suited - King/King? There are numerous books and resources on the internet that will give you an ANTICIPATED good starting hand along with the win percentages for each, but here is what they don't tell you: The strength of a good starting hand depends greatly on the number of players left in the game AND the number of callers. If there are 10 people seated at the table, then a good starting hand will be quite different from a good starting hand with only 3 players sitting at the table.

David "Einstein" Sklansky was the first author to have both ranked every 2-card starting hand and group them along with recommendations on how to play them. The top 16 ranked starting hole cards are fundamental to solid play. They constitute about 7% of all hands you will be dealt.

Table 1 - Sklansky's Group 1 hands AA KK QQ JJ AKs

Ace/Ace and King/King are substantially more powerful than the Queen/Queen.

Table 2 - Sklansky's Group 2 hands TT AQs AJs KQs AK

The overall power of Ace/King is actually slightly greater than that of King/Queens, so I would reverse the order of these two hands within this Group

Out of the 10 hands in these two groups your decision to raise should not be treated equally based upon the following:

1. Raising Ace/Ace, King/King, Queen/Queen, and Ace/King should be aggressive before the flop because these cards can lose their value in large multi-way pots.

2. Raising Ace/King, Ace/Queen, Ace/Jack, and King/Queen should be moderate because they do play well in multi-way pots.

3. Raising Jack/Jack should only be done on a tight tables in order to run out hands such as Ace/Nine. This type of hand can also lose value in multi-way pots.

4. Raising Ten/Ten is generally not recommended.

Always consider the fact that your starting hand strength also depends on your table position, or how many people bet before and after you do. As a general rule, you should stick to the conventional best starting hand percentages when there are 8 to 10 players with 2 to 3 callers. When the field is narrowed down to 5 players or less, you should play your starting hands more aggressively. For example, the Ace/King suited is often considered to be the second best starting hand with a full table. If there are less than 5 players left, any Ace hole card with a decent kicker can give you the same winning percentages as the Ace/King suited would have. The concept is very simple, you are playing the mathematical odds implied via the 52 cards in the deck along with the probability that fewer players will equal less chances that someone will draw an Ace. In short, the fewer number of players holding cards at a table, the greater your chances of winning are.

If you are in a late position at a full table and have seen one player wager a large bet, and there are one or two callers, most often you can bet at the very least ONE of them is holding a strong starting hand with high win percentages (such as an Ace with a high kicker, suited sequence cards, or heavy pocket pairs, etc).

If, at any given point of the game, you have five or more players seeing the flop, then a good starting hand can often times change to small sequence cards such as a five/six or a small suited pairs. Reason? When over half of the players at a table call a hand, the high cards such as Aces, Kings, and Queens are usually tied up as hole cards thus not showing up on the flop, turn or river. This is an excellent opportunity for small pairs, lower straights, or any flush draw to win a big pot. As a general rule, you should never bet the minimum when you have an excellent starting hand unless you intend to "limp in" and get more callers for the hand. There are times when limping in can win you some big pots, but you shouldn't let slow playing become a dominant strategy. It is good to bet at least 3 to 4 times the minimum in order to run out any possible draw hands or players who rely on luck and chance to win a big pot early in the tournament.

Once you have mastered the basic concept of good starting hands for every scenario, you will become a better all around Texas Holdem player!

Brough to you by,
www.PokerSecretsSchool.com - FREE "Winning Online Texas Holdem Poker" e-book!

The 5 P's of Poker

Today you will learn the important 5 P's pf poker. They are Patience, Perseverance, Psychology, Position, and Practice. What makes these words important is what they really mean in the game of poker. This I will explain below.

Patience -
In the game of poker you must have patience to win. You have to wait for good hands to play, If you don’t have patience and you play every single hand you can be assured that you will not be a winning player. You need to wait for good hands, wait and make the right moves, and wait to make the right bets.

Perseverance -
This is very important in poker. You cannot give up, and you must always play your best game. If you hit a loosing streak and get beat with bad cards or bad play you cannot give in and start playing bad hands and making bad moves. Do not give in to tilt.

Psychology -
Poker is a people game played with cards, not a card game played with people. You must always be thinking about the other players. How have they played in the past? Why would they make that bet? What do they think I have? Always try to get inside the other players head, try and put yourself in their position to figure out what they have.

Position -
Always be aware of your position on the table. Be aware of other players positions. You get to choose the cards you play and when you play them. In early position only play very best hands. Is someone who acts after you raise almost every hand? Maybe you need to play tighter with him on the table.

Practice -

To be a winning poker play you have to play....a lot. The more you play the more experience you will have. You must also keep up on poker strategy. Read poker books and then read them again.

-------Suggestion--------

Write or print out the 5 P's of poker. Keep them handy, Post them up by the computer you play poker on. Before you play read them and put meaning behind each word. By doing this each time you play you will put yourself in a better mindset, This should increase your poker winnings substantially.

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www.pokersecretsschool.com - FREE "Winning Online Texas Holdem Poker" e-book!

Money Management, Why You Need to Manage Your Bankroll…

In this artical I will talk about money management, bankrolls, and minimizing loses. These are all important concepts when playing poker but they all revolve around the same principals. You must limit your loses, hold on to your winnings, and most importantly always leave your self outs.

You should only play games that your bankroll will allow. If you have 200 dollars to play with for a month you don’t want to lose it all in the first week playing a 5-10 no-limit game. The average pot in these games would be about the size of your bankroll. You should play lower limit games that match your bankroll.

Minimize your losses. I have seen players loose a big hand, go on tilt and loose their whole bankroll in one night. If you ever get angry because of a bad beat or loose a lot of money quickly you should take a break. A lot of mental energy will be used up worrying about your bad luck, this will effect your game in a negative way. I recommend going for a walk or even quit playing for the day. There will always be another game tomorrow.

Protect your bankroll. Not every player needs a bankroll. If you only play on occasion with extra money you probably don’t need to worry about this. But if you are a player who wants to make a good income from poker your bankroll is an asset. Lets say you start with a bankroll of 500 dollars at a poker site. Now after a week of winning you are up to 2000 in your account. You take out 1500 and go buy a new TV. That is fine but if you get on a bad streak you can easily loose the 500 you still have. Then you will have no bankroll and wont be able to play. This happens to a lot of good player, and if they cant play they cant win anymore. This can put an end to your poker profits.

So just remember that poker is a game of swings. You can win a lot but you can also get on a bad luck streak and lose a lot. Just watch your bankroll, manage your money, and always leave yourself outs.

------Suggestion-------

Remember to think about your bankroll before each time you play. Think about what will happen if you loose all your money in your account. Will you want to deposit more money you cant afford to lose? Are the stakes of the game so high it you loose a big hand you will be out of chips? Just think before you start to play about the worst case scenario and you should have less bankroll problems.

Brough to you by,
www.pokersecretsschool.com - FREE "Winning Online Texas Holdem Poker" e-book!

The Secrets of Raising

Today we will talk about “The secret art of raising”. Most people think that you only raise when you have a good hand and you want to win more money. This is correct but there are many other reasons to raise and to be a winning player you need to know what you want to get from a raise and if it is working.

There are 5 major reasons to raise:

1. To get more money from your hand.
2. To eliminate players.
3. To get a “Free” card.
4. To gain information.
5. To bluff or semi-bluff

1. To get more money from your hand. This is the simplest reason to raise a pot. Basically when you feel that you have the best had you are going to raise to try to get more money in the pot. If you have the “Nuts”, the best hand possible at the time this is the only reason you should raise. Sometimes you may not want to raise in this case. You may want to slow play the hand.

2. To eliminate players. This is a pretty simple concept as well. This is the reason you raise with AA or KK. You want to get people out before they can see the flop. AA and KK do very well against a few people but against a lot of people there’s a good chance you will loose after all 5 cards come out. Another time when you might raise to eliminate players is when you flop top pair, example: You hold AK and the flop comes 9 10 K, You now have top pair with the best kicker. Here you would want to get people out of the hand so they don’t make 2 pair, a straight, or a flush.

3. To get a “Free” card. Well you don’t get it for free but it costs you less. You would raise to get a free card if you flop and open ended straight draw or flush draw and were in a later position. See if you were playing 3-6 and you raised on the flop you would put an extra 3 dollars but in most cases the other player or players will check to you assuming you have a better hand. This saves you from calling a 6 dollar bet on the turn, instead you get it for free. You might also want to raise the flop in late position when you have top pair and a weak kicker or mid pair with a good kicker.

4. To gain information. This is a more complex reason to raise. This move works best on or before the flop. Before the flop you don’t know anything about a players hand other than it could be anything but if you raise and a player re-raises then you know he has a good hand. Most likely a hand in Group #1 or maybe #2. If he just calls you know that he probably doesn’t have a “monster” hand. Now lest say after the flop you have a pair of aces with a 7 kicker, and your opponent bets into you. Now if you call you couldn’t really tell how big of a hand he has but if you raise him and he re-raises you are probably beat at least with a better kicker. This is a way to actually save money. If you called all the way down to see his AK then you have lost a lot more than you have to.

5. To bluff or semi-bluff. We wont get into bluffing right now. You really wont need to do much bluffing in lower limit games. Most bluffing goes on in higher limit games, No-limit games, and no-limit tournaments. Semi-bluffing however is something you need to know about. Semi-bluffing is betting a hand that probably isn’t the best one at the time but can improve with more cards. The real goal to semi-bluffing is to win the pot right then and there. So you only want to semi- bluff when there are only a few player in the pot, you think you everyone might fold after you bet or raise, and you are very sure that no one will check raise you. There are many opportunities to semi-bluff in every game, most of the time they are not the right move though. Remember to semi-bluff accordingly.

If you look back at all the reasons to raise you will see that a lot of the times when you raise you might accomplish more than one goal. You might raise to get a free card but also gain information and get more money in the pot. Its good to have a specific reason or two in your mind before every raise, this way you wont be raising just for the sake of raising.

-----Suggestion-----

Next few times you play poker online have a notebook right in front of you. Every time you make a raise write down what the main reason for raising was. Then write down if it was successful or not. After you have about 25 entry’s for each of the 5 reasons look through your records and find out what reasons for raising had the most positive results. This will help you decide when you should raise or not.

It is a good idea to do this activity every so often. It will help you keep on your game and raise at the right times.

The Money You Bring To Vegas, Stays in Vegas
(How to not break the bank on your Vegas vacation)

Whether you’ve been dating for a year or just think spending some money is the best way to get down her pants, Vegas is a great place to show your love while still having fun. Sexy men and women provide eye-candy for all. But Beth, you whine like a little girl, how will I afford a trip like that? I am only in college and I can barely afford to eat. Well, suck it up, live on bread and water for a month, and follow my easy tips to an affordable luxury vacation.

Gambling:
Depending on what floats your boat, you may want to enter a Texas hold-um tournament, cruise the blackjack tables, or spend time at the slots. Regardless of your choice, one rule applies to them all: only spend what you are willing to loose. But Beth, you cry, I already knew that. Well, here is something that perhaps you don’t know. Before you leave, decide what games you want to play. Generally you can find coupons that will give you such benefits like spend $20 and get $40 worth of slot play, or double cash back at black jack. Also, if you have a certain hotel you like to play at, it may be to your advantage to join their player’s club, which has rewards and double cash back, and other money saving things like that.
In Vegas, you get free drinks while you gamble. Granted, they are not the tastiest concoctions, but, nonetheless, they are free. To maximize your money and drinking time at the tables, don’t play every hand. Sit out and watch for a bit, and only play occasionally. If you go with a friend, don’t play while your friend plays, and let your friend watch you while you play. Make the casino give you something for nothing! Now, remember, as you drink, you will play worse, hence my first rule, only bet what you are willing to lose, but the odds are against you anyway so live it up while you can!

Shows:
My favorite part of Vegas! I love going from casino to casino and checking out what they have. Don’t worry, you don’t have to break the bank to watch these, just follow these tips:
1) Almost every casino has at lease one free show. Circus Circus has a free acrobat show and other famous ones include: Fountain show, pirate show, and the volcano show. Other casinos have hidden shows so check them out before you leave for Nevada.
2) If you don’t have a specific show to see, check online for two-for-one coupons. These will save you a lot of money. I saved over $200 on my last trip. Simply split the cost of one with your friend/lover and have fun. Almost all the shows in Vegas are good; so don’t worry if you haven’t heard of it before.
3) If you have a specific show you want to see, find out what hotel it is at. Then, call the hotel and see if they have a guest discount. You may find it to your advantage to stay at that hotel. Also, search online for coupons. You never know what you will find.

Restaurants:
Number one rule of buffets is this: All buffets in Vegas cost about $7. The difference is the food quality. If you are staying in old Vegas, DO NOT EAT AT YOUR HOTEL’S BUFFET. Go to the Palms or the MGM Grand and eat a nice meal for the same price. Otherwise, look online for coupons. Planet Hollywood and Hard Rock Café have $5 off ones and there are many more. I found lots of coupons for 10-20% off various establishments. Coupons really can save you a lot of money if you take the time to look for them.

Hotels and Airfare:
These may seem expensive, but in actuality, they are not. Look online for special offers and both of these can become very cheap. Don’t book these too early though, especially the hotel room, so they have more time to issue offers if business is slow. Most hotels offer a different rate for weekdays than weekends, so think about taking your vacation during the week. And remember, Vegas is one of the cheapest places in the world to fly to, so don’t get stressed out!

The keys to a cheap and fun vacation are planning, timing, and taking it slow, just like with any satisfying endeavor.

This Article was written by College Poker Tips. Visit College Poker Tips to get their great advice on No Limit Hold em and Omaha Hi Lo

College Poker Tips is also hosting a Party Poker Fish List, made up of over 30,000 hands and 5,000 players. Use the free statistics to find out who the fish, maniacs and rocks are, and how to play against them.

Omaha Hi/Low

One of my personal favorite games is Omaha Hi Low. I have been playing much more of it on Party Poker than I have Omaha. Look for me as Skits_2 in the low limit Pot limit games The reason for this is that the games are generally juicier, and it is generally fairly easy to tell what to do with a hand. Basically, if after the flop you don't have a hand or a draw you would be happy pushing all your chips in with, dump it. If you do, bet it. Don't slow play and try to trap. Obviously this is very simplified, but playing just this strategy would make money on Party.

But what hands should you play preflop? Every hand you get looks like it could hit something. They are filled with suited connectors, medium pairs, and 4 cards in a row. Here is a simple point system that tells you what is worth playing, and what is pure junk.

Score your hand like this

Pairs :
Aces = 20 Points
Kings = 13
Queens = 12
Jacks = 11
All other count as their face value. i.e. a pair of 7's is worth 7
Knock off half the points if you have trips. Don't play 4 of the same card in your hand under any circumstances

Flushes
2 Card Flush with Ace High - 10 points
All other flushes count 4 points.
If you have 3 or 4 of the same suit in your hand knock off half

Straights
2 Card Straights or 1 gappers = 2 points
3 Card Straights = 6 points
4 Card Straights = 8 points

Lows
A-2 = 20
A-3 = 15
A-4, 2-3 = 10
A-5 2-4, 2-5 =7
3-4 3-5 4-5 = 5

Now add up all your points. The best hand possible is AA23 with two suited aces. That scores 85. All others score less than that.

If you score
15 : Complete small blind
25 : Consider calling
40 : Consider Raising
50 : Reraise

Of course you have to take into account other factors, such as position, people at the table, but this will give you a good idea of relative hand value.

This Article was written by College Poker Tips. Visit College Poker Tips to get their great advice on No Limit Hold em and Omaha Hi Lo

College Poker Tips is also hosting a Party Poker Fish List, made up of over 30,000 hands and 5,000 players. Use the free statistics to find out who the fish, maniacs and rocks are, and how to play against them.

Pot Odds

Every one knows that if you have a drawing hand, it is important to figure out the pot odds before you make a call.. What that means is are the odds of you making the hand and winning the pot greater than the amount you have to call relative to the pot. Clearly it is hard to figure out the exact percentages in the middle of a hand when you only have twenty seconds to act. However there is a rule of thumb that will get you the correct odds within a percent or two and takes only seconds to learn and remember.

The first thing that you do is count up the number of outs that you have. Then the percent chance that the next card will be one of your outs is your number of outs multiplied by two. Say you are drawing to a spade flush. There are two spades on the board, two in your hand, which leaves nine remaining in the deck. Multiply 9 * 2 = 18 percent that the next card will be a spade.

Let's examine this a little more closely. After the flop there are 47 unknown cards left in the deck, after the turn there are 46 which means that the odds of any given card being the next one to come out are

1/47 = 2.1 %
1/46 = 2.2 %

If we approximate this as 1 in 50 instead of 1 in 47 we see that any given card has a 2% chance of coming out. Which means to find the chance that one of our outs is next we simply multiply it by two. To find the chance that one of our outs comes on the turn or the river multiply it by four.

It is important to note that these are underestimates. i.e. this rule of thumb would approximate the chances of your flush coming to be 36 % instead of 38%. If you would like to be more exact, multiply by 2 or 4 and add 1 percent for every 8 chances you have of hitting your out. So in this case we would add 2% because we have 9 chances on the turn and 9 chances on the river for 18 chances total.

This Article was written by College Poker Tips. Visit College Poker Tips to get their great advice on No Limit Hold em and Omaha Hi Lo

College Poker Tips is also hosting a Party Poker Fish List, made up of over 30,000 hands and 5,000 players. Use the free statistics to find out who the fish, maniacs and rocks are, and how to play against them.

Omaha - A Game of Nuts

Here is a quick tip for you if you are a Hold-em player and want to consider playing Omaha, and especially Omaha High-Lo. Simply put Holdem is a game that has many different important aspects to it; no one thing is key. Hand selection is important, so is your aggression and your player reading ability. If you don't have a great hand in Hold-em you can often win a pot through well timed aggression. You might also be able to call a player down with a mediocre hand and often win the pot.

In Omaha, the single thing that is most important to winning is hand selection. Omaha is a game of the nuts. If you don't start out with a really good hand, you are unlikely to hit a nut hand. And if you are playing large pots with anything that is not a nut hand you are most likely going to lose. Although you can often win small pots without much action with hands such as two pair or the second or third low, if there is betting and raising in front of you these hands will cost you money. Two pair is one of the largest trap hands in Omaha. If there is a possible flush on the board, and you are getting bet at, your two pair is no good. If there is a possible straight on the board, ditto. Often times even an innocuous looking board will yield trips.

So how then do you make money in Omaha? The answer is so simple it might surprise you. Simply wait till you have good hands and play them strongly. Make everyone else who is trying to win with their second best hands pay for their optimism. Did you flop a nut low draw with a nut flush draw? You should bet it. Flop the high straight? Bet it. Except for some heads up cases, slow playing does not pay off. You should bet in order to build the pot, paving the way for larger bets on later streets. And you should also bet in order to trim the field so there are less dangerous cards out there.

This Article was written by College Poker Tips. Visit College Poker Tips to get their great advice on No Limit Hold em and Omaha Hi Lo

College Poker Tips is also hosting a Party Poker Fish List, made up of over 30,000 hands and 5,000 players. Use the free statistics to find out who the fish, maniacs and rocks are, and how to play against them.

Grinding It Out; Playing Poker vs. A Part Time Job

If you are a normal college student then you are probably short on money. And if you're a normal poker player then the thought of whether or not you can win it is always on your mind. But the real question is, say you are strapped for cash and busy with school, what is a better use of your time, earning the money through a part time job or trying to grind it out through poker.

There should be several factors which affect your decision. The first is how much can you win at poker, and what kind of bankroll do you have to do it with. What is your expected value for an hour of poker play? The easiest way to figure that out is to get a stat tracker such as Poker Tracker and import several thousand hands into it. If you don't already have Poker Tracker then I recommend that you get it, as it will pay for itself with just a few pots. After you import your hands you can see what your BB/hour is. Multiply that by the limit you are playing and how much are you making? $2/hour, $5, $10, $25? You also need to consider whether or not you usually multi-table. Playing three tables could triple your hourly rate, or it might stay the same. How well can you focus on multiple tables? Do you start making bad bluffs and bad calls? Or can you walk away a winner from all the games.

After you have some hard data about how much you can expect to make the decision should become easier. If you are pulling in $2/hour at poker, stick with the job. If you are making $30/hour, then you have probably made your decision before you opened this article. But lets assume that you have been averaging a respectable $10/hour at poker, or you can take a job for $10/hour to help pay the bills, which should you do? In this case what you need to consider is whether or not you can play for an extended period of time without losing your edge. It is one thing to sit down for an hour, beat the game and leave. It is another to sit down for 6 hours and consistently leave $60 richer. You also need to consider whether or not needing to win in order to pay the bills will affect your game. It is always a bad thing to play with scared money, and if you have a losing streak for a couple of weeks will you be ok? Can your bankroll handle the volatility? If the answer is no then you might want to consider keeping the job and using your winnings to build up your bankroll to the point where you would feel comfortable depending on it. After that you can try your hand at it.

I will be the first to admit there are some intangible benefits to using poker as an income source. For instance pants. In the real world they require you to show up with them. If you go to work with out them you generally get a talking to or perhaps a firing. If you are playing at an online poker table you would be just one of the five or six pants less people there.

This Article was written by College Poker Tips. Visit College Poker Tips to get their great advice on No Limit Hold em and Omaha Hi Lo

College Poker Tips is also hosting a Party Poker Fish List, made up of over 30,000 hands and 5,000 players. Use the free statistics to find out who the fish, maniacs and rocks are, and how to play against them.

Why Losing Makes You A Winner
By Miss Beth

Many people think that if they suck at poker, they must turn down invitations to Texas hold-um parties. Yet this in fact an incorrect assumption. Losing doesn’t mean you don’t win overall. Even losers can have winners. House parties generally have a $5-$15 buy-in. This doesn’t mean that if you loose the game you leave in the red. All this shows is that you must consume or drink enough to make a profit. If you go to a house that has a $5 buy in, gulp down at least 4 drinks. Don’t believe me? Do the math. Say a six-pack costs $8. 8/6=1and 1/3, or about $1.33. 4x1.33=5.32. Therefore, you have made a $0.32 profit in consumer goods. To further capitalize on being the loser, wait until the game is done then suggest ordering a pizza. Once this idea is popularized, look at the other players and propose that the big winner pay for it since he/she has “taken all of our money.” I guarantee the other losers will enthusiastically back up this idea. The free pizza further adds to your profit for the night while decreasing the big winner’s profit and so it becomes a less desirable position. (I say that to alleviate your jealousy you cheeky monkeys)

Now that we have established that you are not losing money by losing the game, it is time to look at the non-material benefits of losing. If you are in fact playing a game with boys and girls, losing can help you on your way to getting some. That’s right, despite what you have heard, the person with the cash isn’t always the real winner of the night.

Let’s start off with common sense. No one likes the person who takes him/her out in a poker game. Now boys, maybe you could look past your pride if the girl was pretty enough, but, being a girl, I know I would NEVER EVER get over it. That’s right, my contempt for the person who made me lose the last of my money would persevere past the drinks designed to loosen me up. If fact, the more alcohol I consumed would make me more likely to seek out my opponent and insult their looks/clothes/whatever in front of other girls. Once a girl has openly rejected you, you loose desirability to every female spectator. You would have virtually no chance of getting down my skirt or up the shirt of any other girl at the party. So if you are up against someone you think is cute, and you know you have the winning hand, fold. You will probably lose your money anyway in the end, and who wouldn’t pay $5-$15 for some play? I mean, hookers cost, what? At least $25. A side note to boys: Keep in consideration that your standards for “cute” girls change once you consume some drinks; the ugly ones may suddenly transform into desirable females so be nice to them.

Now that you have a potential hook-up in mind, there are two ways you can approach the situation, depending on who was taken out first. If you were the first to lose, tell your hottie that they played a good game but got a bad beat despite of what actually occurred. When they reply, “No, I’m not that good,” simply respond, “Hey, you’re better than me. I lost way before you did.” Then ask them for some of their tricks. Even the worst players have a strategy and it may be the stupidest, most insane thing you’ve ever heard, but pretend that it is the most intelligent piece of advice you can imagine. Following this easy dialogue will get you some goodnight kisses…on various parts of your body.

If the person lost before you, the opening statements are different depending on your gender. Boys: Tell the girl that she played very well but there was nothing she could do. They played the hand correctly but the other player got lucky. This will probably lead into a conversation about her strategies for winning, which you can proclaim are the best you’ve ever heard. Yada, yada, yada, you know the rest. Girls: Tell the boy that even the best poker players lose sometimes, including the world poker tournament players. This will lead into an elaborate discussion of why they lost and you can agree that they are in fact the best poker player you have ever seen. Although both conversations involve admitting your crush lost unfairly, the difference is this: Girls are in touch with reality enough to know that they are only amateur players; guys are so delusional that they are convinced they are the best poker player in the world, nay, the universe! In either case, by following these simple steps, although you lost at poker, you will be the winner in the bedroom.

This Article was written by College Poker Tips. Visit College Poker Tips to get their great advice on No Limit Hold em and Omaha Hi Lo

College Poker Tips is also hosting a Party Poker Fish List, made up of over 30,000 hands and 5,000 players. Use the free statistics to find out who the fish, maniacs and rocks are, and how to play against them.